Research Legality of the Idea of Baby Designer

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Designer Babies
Introduction
Technological advancement has led to various interventions in different scientific fields that ranges from machines to human health. The latest technological advancement has reached child conception and ability to determine the gender, appearance, intelligence, disease and personality of the baby that is yet to be given birth to. The latest technology that is currently being used is known as designer baby. According to Gessen, a designer baby is a term that is being used to describe a situation where genetic makeup of a baby has been artificially or scientifically been selected through an engineered process that is mixed with an In Vitro fertilization so as to make sure that there is presence or absence of specific characteristics or genes in the baby (3). There have different views that have been criticizing or challenging the legality, ethics and evolution of baby designer.
This paper explores whether the idea of baby designer is legal and ethical as well as the evolution of the term baby designer.
Legality of the Idea of Baby Designer
The issue about designer baby first came to the limelight when a clinic that is based in Los Angeles suggested that parents can be allowed to choose genetic modification of their children which include choosing the gender, color, hair and eye color of their babies. Different people are having different opinions about the idea of baby designer technology, with some people are supporting it while others are also against. For those who are in the support of this scientific idea, they are of the opinion that parents have got absolute right to choose how their babies should look like. It does not matter whether parents want their child to have a green, black or brown so long as they can afford, since technology is there to do just that. Iredale, et al is of the opinion that people should stop living in the past, and start embracing new technologies that have been discovered to make life easier for them (67). Whether it is believable or unbelievable, there are some parents that really care about the gender and appearance of their kids and this one of the reasons why baby designer was discovered. As it stands now, there is no any single law in the United States that illegalizes the use of technology for determining traits of a baby before given birth to. However, currently in U.S, regulation of genetic testing and research is done by these three bodies: Food and Drug Administration, Federal Trade Commission, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It is important to note that the mentioned bodies are not directly regulating the use of baby designer technology for genetic modification of babies. Nevertheless, there are high chances that these laws will be enacted sooner than anyone had anticipated. According to Suter , it is advisable to illegalize the use of CRISPR-Cas9 or any other available device for genetic engineering to change or modify the baby’s germline while in the womb (897). However, before such laws are regulated it will be upon scientists to regulate themselves on when and how to apply this technology. In addition to that it is important to note that a country like Australia has got a law ...